Commentary
Federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault recently amended his edict that Canada’s electricity generation and distribution system achieve “net-zero” CO2 emissions by 2035, likely because Alberta Premier Danielle Smith finally made Guilbeault’s Liberal government colleagues realize this goal was impossible (as well as politically toxic). The question now is: Does Guilbeault shoving the net-zero goalposts out to 2050 make the impossible possible?
Guilbeault claims—and appears to believe—that a net-zero grid is critical to stopping climate change. But just because Guilbeault thinks things does not make them true.
Canada’s electrical grid currently emits an estimated 47 megatonnes of CO2 annually. To eliminate these emissions, “all” we need to do is replace the electricity currently generated using fossil fuels with one or more of the other significant available sources—hydro, nuclear, wind, or solar….